One of the values of gemstones, is in their appearance. The appearance of the gemstone can often be enhanced by cutting the gemstone into different shapes, and polishing the surface of the gemstone. This is especially true with gemstones that at least pass some light through them, especially diamonds. Depending on the angle that the light strikes the surface and the material of the gemstone, the light can neither be reflected from the surface or pass through the surface. If the light passes into the gemstone, it passes through the gemstone until it reaches another surface. At this other surface, the light in the gemstone can either be reflected back into the gemstone or pass out of the gemstone.
It is often desirable to shape the gemstone so that the light entering one area of the gemstone is redirected by the gemstone to exit from another area. In particular it is often desirable to maximize the light exiting one area, since this gives the gemstone a brilliance or sparkle. Many different gemstone cuts are known, particularly for diamonds, to try to maximize the amount of light that exits one particular area of the gemstone.
One of the most popular cuts for a diamond is known as the “brilliant,” which arranges the individual flat surfaces or facets to maximize the light passing out through the main table facet. The “brilliant” cut has a crown portion, a girdle portion and a pavilion portion. Each of these portions has a plurality of facets, especially the crown portion and pavilion portion. The arrangement of these facets is well known to a person of ordinary skill in the art of the present invention, and therefore no further description of the arrangement of facets in the “brilliant” cut is necessary or warranted.
There are many variations of the “brilliant” cut style. Very often the angle of the facets is changed slightly to account for the original shape of the rough diamond, to increase the yield from the rough diamond, or personal preferences. Sometimes the shapes of the facets are changed to provide a finish diamond with a square or rectangular shape. Even with these variations, the cuts still follow the well-known “brilliant” style.
There are many other antique facet designs, such as the “Old Mine Cut.” The arrangement of the facets in these antique designs are well known to a person of ordinary skill in the art of the present invention, and therefore no further description of the arrangement of facets in these antique facet designs is necessary or warranted.